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The Antitrust Assault on Intellectual Property

June 2018

The importance of intellectual property (“IP”) and its role in promoting economic growth and consumer welfare have long been recognized in the U.S. Despite the risks involved in tampering with a system that has benefitted this country, some U.S. Government agencies have in recent years been anything but careful in their approach to IP issues. Abandoning antitrust law’s historical deference to the exercise of core IP rights, authorities have taken to using antitrust enforcement to favor IP users over innovators and to reduce the value of IP, threatening innovation incentives. Neither antitrust principles nor sound policy supports such measures. These practices should cease before they do permanent damage to our nation’s innovation ecosystem and the national economy.